March 13 - Ukraine's lead telecom operator Kyivstar ( KYIV )

on Friday reported 2025 core profit up around 26%,

driven by growth in digital sales which now make up 16% of its

total revenue.

Its earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation and

amortization (EBITDA) came in at 648 million USD. Kyivstar ( KYIV ) said

it expected an EBITDA growth of 12% to 15% in 2026.

Digital revenue jumped 467% for the full year to $124

million, boosted largely by the April 2025 acquisition of

ride-hailing platform Uklon, which contributed $80 million in

revenue. In the fourth quarter alone, digital revenue surged

more than sixfold.

"We are transforming Kyivstar ( KYIV ) from a telco service provider

to a digital service provider with a telco license," Chief

Executive Alexander Komarov told Reuters in an interview. He

added that the company's own internally-developed digital

applications grew 120% year-on-year.

Kyivstar ( KYIV ) said Ukraine's first large language model,

currently developed in partnership with Google using the Gemma

open-source framework, has a first version expected in Q2 2026.

A public naming competition is currently underway through the

Diia government app.

The company's total digital monthly active users reached 15

million by year-end, up 41.6% year-on-year, spanning

ride-hailing, healthcare, entertainment and its super-app.

Net profit fell to $124 million from $283 million a year

earlier, weighed down by a one-time non-cash charge of $162

million related to the company's stock market listing. Adjusted

net profit was broadly flat at $286 million.